103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3272

 

Introduced 2/6/2024, by Sen. Celina Villanueva

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Warehouse Worker Protection Act. Provides that each employer shall provide to each employee, upon hire or within 30 days after the effective date of the Act, whichever is later, a written description of each quota to which the employee is subject, including the quantified number of tasks to be performed or materials to be produced or handled, within a defined time period, and any potential adverse employment action that could result from failure to meet the quota. Provides that an employee shall not be required to meet a quota that prevents compliance with meal or rest periods or use of bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from bathroom facilities. Requires employers to post a notice of employees' rights under the Act and to comply with certain recordkeeping requirements. Establishes civil penalties for noncompliance with the Act. Provides for a private right of action and injunctive relief. Sets forth provisions concerning definitions, employee's right to request records, enforcement, and severability. Effective January 1, 2025.


LRB103 38574 RPS 68710 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3272LRB103 38574 RPS 68710 b

1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Warehouse Worker Protection Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7    "Aggregated work speed data" means a compilation of
8employee work speed data for multiple employees, in summary
9form, assembled in full or in another form such that the data
10cannot be identified with any individual.
11    "Controlled group of corporations" has the meaning given
12to that term under Section 1563 of the Internal Revenue Code,
1326 U.S.C. 1563, except that 50% shall be substituted for 80%
14where 80% is specified in that definition.
15    "Defined time period" means any unit of time measurement
16equal to or less than the duration of an employee's shift,
17including hours, minutes, seconds, and any fraction thereof.
18    "Designated employee representative" means any employee
19representative, including, but not limited to, an authorized
20employee representative who has a collective bargaining
21relationship with the employer.
22    "Director" means the Director of Labor.
23    "Employee" means a nonadministrative employee who is not

 

 

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1exempt from the overtime and minimum wage requirements of the
2federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, and who
3works at a warehouse distribution center and is subject to a
4quota as defined in this Section. "Employee" does not include
5a driver or courier to or from a warehouse distribution
6center.
7    "Employee work speed data" means information an employer
8collects, stores, analyzes, or interprets relating to an
9individual employee's performance of a quota, including, but
10not limited to, quantities of tasks performed, quantities of
11items or materials handled or produced, rates or speeds of
12tasks performed, measurements or metrics of employee
13performance in relation to a quota, and time categorized as
14performing tasks or not performing tasks. "Employee work speed
15data" does not include itemized wage statements or data that
16does not relate to the performance of a quota, except for any
17content of those records that includes employee work speed
18data.
19    "Employer" means a person who directly or indirectly, or
20through an agent or any other person, including through the
21services of a third-party employer, temporary services or
22staffing agency, independent contractor, or any similar
23entity, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours, or
24working conditions of 100 or more employees at a single
25warehouse distribution center in the State or 1,000 or more
26employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the

 

 

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1State. For the purposes of this definition, all employees of a
2controlled group of corporations shall be counted in
3determining the number of employees employed at a single
4warehouse distribution center or at one or more warehouse
5distribution centers in the State.
6    "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership,
7limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited
8liability company, business trust, estate, trust, association,
9joint venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or
10commercial entity, whether domestic or foreign.
11    "Quota" means a work performance standard under which:
12        (1) an employee is assigned or required to perform at
13    a specified productivity speed or a quantified number of
14    tasks or to handle or produce a quantified amount of
15    material within a defined time period and under which the
16    employee may suffer an adverse employment action if the
17    employee fails to complete or meet the performance
18    standard; or
19        (2) categorizes and measures an employee's actions
20    between time performing tasks and not performing tasks,
21    and the employee's failure to complete or meet a task
22    performance standard may lead to an adverse employment
23    action.
24    "Warehouse distribution center" means an establishment as
25defined by any of the following North American Industry
26Classification System (NAICS) codes, however such

 

 

SB3272- 4 -LRB103 38574 RPS 68710 b

1establishment is denominated:
2        (1) 493 for Warehousing and Storage, but does not
3    include 493130 for Farm Product Warehousing and Storage;
4        (2) 423 for Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods;
5        (3) 424 for Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods,
6    but does not include 424510 for Grain and Field Bean
7    Merchant Wholesalers, 424520 for Livestock Merchant
8    Wholesalers, and 424590 for Other Farm Product Raw
9    Material Wholesalers;
10        (4) 454110 for Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order
11    Houses; or
12        (5) 492110 for Couriers and Express Delivery Services.
 
13    Section 10. Disclosure of quotas. Each employer shall
14provide to each employee, upon hire or within 30 days after the
15effective date of this Act, whichever is later, a written
16description of each quota to which the employee is subject,
17including the quantified number of tasks to be performed or
18materials to be produced or handled within the defined time
19period, and any potential adverse employment action that could
20result from failure to meet the quota. Each time the quota
21changes thereafter, the employer shall provide an updated
22written description of each quota to which the employee is
23subject within 2 business days of the quota change. If an
24employer takes an adverse employment action against an
25employee based on a quota, the employee has a right to request,

 

 

SB3272- 5 -LRB103 38574 RPS 68710 b

1and the employer shall provide, a written explanation
2regarding the manner in which the employee failed to perform,
3including the applicable quota and comparison of the
4employee's work performance in relation to that quota. If an
5employee requests a written description of the quotas to which
6the employee was subject and a copy of the employee's own
7personal work speed data pursuant to this Section, the
8employer shall comply with this request as soon as
9practicable, but no later than 3 calendar days after the date
10of the request.
 
11    Section 15. Protection from quotas. An employee shall not
12be required to meet a quota that prevents compliance with meal
13or rest periods or use of bathroom facilities, including
14reasonable travel time to and from bathroom facilities. An
15employer shall not take adverse employment action against an
16employee for failure to meet a quota that does not allow a
17worker to comply with meal and rest periods or for failure to
18meet a quota that has not been disclosed to the employee
19pursuant to Section 10.
 
20    Section 20. Time on task. Consistent with existing law,
21paid and unpaid breaks shall not be considered productive time
22for the purpose of any quota or monitoring system unless the
23employee is required to remain on call.
 

 

 

SB3272- 6 -LRB103 38574 RPS 68710 b

1    Section 25. Recordkeeping. Each employer shall establish,
2maintain, and preserve for 3 years contemporaneous, true, and
3accurate records to ensure compliance with employee and
4Director requests for data. Nothing in this Section shall
5require an employer to keep such records if such employer does
6not use quotas or monitor work speed data as a performance
7standard that leads to an adverse employment action. An
8employer is not obligated to produce data that does not
9constitute employee work speed data.
 
10    Section 30. Employee's right to request records.
11    (a) A current employee has the right to request a written
12description of each quota to which the employee is subject. If
13a current or former employee believes that the current or
14former employee has received an adverse employment action as
15the result of failing to meet a quota, or that meeting a quota
16caused a violation of the employee's right to a meal or rest
17period or use of bathroom facilities, the current or former
18employee has the right to request, and the employer shall
19provide, a written description of each quota to which the
20employee is subject, a copy of the most recent 90 days of the
21employee's own personal work speed data, and a copy of the
22aggregated work speed data for similar employees at the same
23establishment for the same time period.
24    (b) Requested records under this Section shall be provided
25at no cost to the current or former employee.

 

 

SB3272- 7 -LRB103 38574 RPS 68710 b

1    (c) Nothing in this Section shall require an employer to
2use quotas or monitor work speed data. An employer that does
3not monitor this data has no obligation to provide it.
4    (d) The rights afforded under this Section are independent
5of any other right afforded to an employee or former employee
6under any State or federal law, including, but not limited to,
7the Personnel Records Review Act, to access documents
8maintained by an employer.
 
9    Section 35. Unlawful retaliation. For purposes of this
10Act, there shall be a rebuttable presumption of unlawful
11retaliation if an employer takes any adverse employment action
12against an employee within 90 days of the employee doing
13either of the following:
14        (1) Initiating the employee's first request in a
15    calendar year for information about a quota or personal
16    work speed data pursuant to Section 30 of this Act.
17        (2) Making a complaint related to a quota alleging any
18    violation of Sections 10, 15, or 20 of this Act,
19    inclusive, to the Director, the Department, or the
20    employer.
 
21    Section 40. Notice to employees. Every employer covered by
22this Act shall post and keep posted, in conspicuous places on
23the premises of the employer where notices to employees are
24customarily posted, a notice, to be prepared or approved by

 

 

SB3272- 8 -LRB103 38574 RPS 68710 b

1the Director of Labor, regarding employees' rights under this
2Act, including what constitutes a permissible quota and
3employees' right to request quota and work speed data
4information, and making a complaint to various State
5authorities regarding a violation of an employee's quota
6rights under this Act.
 
7    Section 45. Enforcement. The Department of Labor shall
8adopt rules to implement and enforce this Act. The Director
9shall be authorized to enforce this Act and to assess damages
10payable to the employee and civil penalties.
 
11    Section 50. Workplace inspections. If a particular work
12site or employer that uses quotas as a performance standard to
13determine adverse employment actions and is subject to this
14Act is found to have an annual employee injury rate of at least
151.5 times as high as the warehousing industry's average annual
16injury rate as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics'
17most recent fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries and
18illnesses data, the Director shall determine whether an
19investigation of violations pursuant to this Act, if relevant
20to the Director's authority, is appropriate.
 
21    Section 55. Private right of action. A current or former
22employee or his or her designated employee representative may
23bring an action for injunctive relief to obtain compliance

 

 

SB3272- 9 -LRB103 38574 RPS 68710 b

1with Sections 10, 15, 20, and 30 and may, upon prevailing in
2the action, recover costs and reasonable attorney's fees in
3such action. In any action involving a quota that prevented
4the compliance with applicable regulations on workplace safety
5and health or meal or rest break requirements, the injunctive
6relief shall be limited to suspension of the quota and any
7adverse action that resulted from its enforcement by the
8employer.
 
9    Section 60. Attorney General; powers. The Attorney
10General, pursuant to the authority under Section 6.3 of the
11Attorney General Act, may initiate or intervene in a civil
12action in the name of the People of the State in any circuit
13court to obtain all appropriate relief for violations
14established under this Act.
 
15    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
16severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
17    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
181, 2025.